Banjo



UNITED STATES lPrrrENT OFFICE.

ALBERT C. FAIRBANKS, OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS.

BANJO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 489.470, dated. January 10, 1893. l Application filed April 21, 1891. Renewed June 6, 1892. Serial No. 435,640. (No model.)

To aZZ witam it may conccrn:

Be it known that I, ALBERT O. FAIRBANKS, of Somerville, in the county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Banjos, of which the following is a description sufficiently full, clear, and exact to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which said invention appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective View of my improved banjo-rim; Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation illustrating a modification; Fig. 3 a vertical transverse section and Fig. 4 a sectional i view illnstrating a modification.

Like letters and figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figm'es of the drawings.

My invention relates especially to an improvement in the construction of banjo-rims; and it consists in certain novel features hereinafter fully set forth and claimed, the object being to prodnce a simpler, cheaper and more effective device of this character than is now in ordinary use.

The nature and operation of the improvement will bc readily nnderstood by all conversant with such matters from the following explanation:

, In the drawings, A represents the rim considered as a whole. The body, O, of the rim consists of a wooden band or hoop. In one edge thereof a series of vertically Curved bosses, b, is formed, the upper edges of which are grooved at, (Z, to receive the ordinary band wire,f, as shown in Fig. 8; the lower edge of said body being grooved at, g, to receive the companion wire, f. These wires are bound into the grooves by spinning a metallic sheet o'r facing, 71., over them in the ordinary manner. The bosses, b, in the edge of the rim body form a truss for the steel Wire, f, and when the head is in position on the rim tend to produce a vibration resnlting in a volume of tone not attainable when the wire is bound onto the solid wooden rim as in banjos of or-- dinary construction.

In Fig. 2, the wooden body, O, is trussed at both edges and the wires bound into the grooves of the truss bodies by the metallic facing, h, as before. This form is especially desirable for increasing the tone in the higher register. These bosses are integral with the body of the rim and as thus formed the rim is exceedingly light and durable and the cost of construction is greatly lessened and the Vibrations are uniform thronghout the rim body.

In the form shown in Fig. 4 the band or facing is omitted.

The rim, O, is cut away on its inner face at, 15, its lower edge being turned inward at, 16, to form a finish. The band wire,f, is held in the truss grooves, (Z, by the head when in position. This form is exceedingly cheap of construction all of the advantages resulting from trussing the rim being attained.

Having thus explained my invention, what I claim isi 1. A banjo having a rim composed of a hoop provided on one edge with bosses integral therewith, and a band wire resting on said bosses.

2. Abanjohavinga rim composedof ahoop provided with integral bosses, a band wire resting on said bosses, and a metallic facing covering said hoop and a band Wire, substantially as described.

ALBERT O. FAIRBANKS.

VVitnesses:

K. DURFEE, O. M. SHAw. 

